Snow Princess
by Oneeniisama
Summary: What if Sakura's scream caused Kakashi to hesitate and Haku lived? Haku wakes up in Konoha with no memories of the past and a valuable secret locked away inside. Chapter 3: Can Haku really regain her skills or will Sasuke kill her first?
1. Chapter 1

_First things first: I don't own 'Naruto', I don't own the characters, I have no interest whatsoever in profiting from this story. It's here for the entertainment of the readers and that's all._

_This AU story asks the question, "What if Sakura had been facing a different direction during the battle at the bridge and seen Kakashi and Zabuza fighting instead of Naruto and Haku?"  
_

**Snow Princess**  
_based on 'Naruto' by Masashi Kishimoto_

**Konohagakure Department of Shinobi Resources  
Personnel File #7551311**

Family Name: unknown  
Given Name: Haku  
Date of birth: unknown  
Place of birth: unknown  
Primary schooling: unknown  
Advanced training: Momochi Zabuza, Land of Mists, Kirigakure (deceased)  
Current rank: unknown  
Current team: Classified  
Last assignment: Classified

**Land of Waves  
Two weeks before completion of the Great Naruto Bridge:**

Sakura scanned the area around her, but the mist was so thick that she was completely disoriented. In the distance she thought she could see the silhouettes of two people facing off against one another, but there was no way to tell who they were.

"The mist is beginning to thin out," Tazuna, the bridge builder, said from behind her, "don't you think?"

"I can see two people," Sakura said as she squinted into the fog, "but it looks like they're just standing there glaring at each other."

"It's hard to make out…" Tazuna began to say.

Then suddenly Sakura saw the air around one of the figures begin to glow with a faint blue light. Surprised she sucked in a lung full of air and held her breath. Suddenly there was movement to her left and a brown shape with long dark hair appeared briefly out of the mist as it streaked towards the two figures. Without hesitation Sakura screamed.

--

Kakashi's hand was alive with chakra from the Lightening Blade. Tendrils of pure power laced out in all directions and it was all he could do to contain it while he gave Zabuza one last chance.

"I'll say this just once more," Kakashi was almost begging the man, "give up!"

"Never!" Zabuza hissed.

"Then your future is death."

Kakashi began his charge at the big man being held motionless by a pack of summoned dogs. Then he heard Sakura's scream off to his right. He was only distracted for half a second, but it gave him enough time to see the small lithe body impose itself between him and his target. At the last second he shifted his trust upward, but it still caught the boy a glancing blow full in the face.

Haku's body flew backwards smashing into Zabuza, recoiling off the big man and falling straight back into Kakashi's arms. The boy's face had been torn off and the entire front of his skull caved in by the blast. Kakashi realized in one sickening moment that the boy had died instantly.

The dogs holding Zabusa disappeared as the scroll summoning them lay shredded by senbon needles. Haku's final act had been to set his master free and sacrifice himself in the process. Kakashi lowered the boy gently to the pavement as Zabuza laughed.

"You said my future was death, but you missed again Kakashi…"

**One hour after the battle on the bridge:**

Kakashi stood with Sakura and the recently revived Sasuke, surveying the aftermath of the battle. The light snow, which had fallen when Zabuza died, was quickly melting in the summer heat leaving a slushy mess through which some of the villagers labored to clean things up. Naruto was off somewhere with the little boy Inari and Kakashi now had the unenviable task of dealing with the dead shinobi bodies.

"Maybe the two of you should head back to the village now," he said. "You probably don't want to see this."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sasuke asked as he tried not to wince from the pain so evident in his face.

"Or me?" added Sakura.

"No," Kakashi said solemnly, "Just get Sasuke back to the village and make him lay down before he falls down."

Sasuke gave his teacher a dirty look, but obeyed orders and hobbled off down the bridge with Sakura at his side.

Kakashi turned to the gruesome task at hand. Zabuza and Haku lay side by side. Sadly the big man's final wish, to see his companion's face one last time, had not been possible. There was little recognizable as a face left on the boy. Kakashi decided that even though he was about to cut them both open he should at least cover their faces.

"Excuse me," he shouted to one to the village women working nearby. "Would you have something I can cover the dead with?"

The woman walked over and took a handkerchief from the folds of her dress and held it out to Kakashi. It was a nice one, pure white with delicate lace around the edges. "The boy," he said choking up. "Would you mind?"

By now everyone in the village knew he had killed the boy by accident, so with a sympathetic nod the woman bent down and spread the cloth over Haku's ruined face. Then she turned and looked up at Kakashi in surprise. "This one ain't dead."

**Two days after the bridge battle:**

Naruto and Sasuke finished filling in the hole while Kakashi planted Zabuza's huge zanbatou sword at the head of the grave. Sakura set out an offering plate of food and clasped her hands together in prayer. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and with lightening fast reflexes swatted the hand reaching to steal a riceball.

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, "If you eat an offering from a grave you'll be punished by the gods."

The blonde haired boy just chuckled as he rubbed the back of his hand. Sasuke shook his head and walked away while Kakashi looked on in amusement.

After staring Naruto down long enough for him to loose interest in the riceballs, Sakura turned to her teacher and asked, "Sensei, I can't help wondering if they were right about what it means to be a shinobi?"

"A shinobi shouldn't be concerned about the reasons for her existence," Kakashi said solemnly. "We exist as a tool for our homeland to use any way they wish. It's the same for shinobi everywhere."

"Is that really what becoming a shinobi is all about?" Naruto asked. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Do you really believe that, sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Honestly," Kakashi said with a grin, "no, but the idea is always brewing just below the surface for as long as we are shinobi."

"That's it," Naruto said with determination. "I'm going to create my own destiny and my own path as a shinobi."

"Idiot," Sasuke said under his breath. Then turning to his teacher he asked, "Sensei, shouldn't we wait until the bridge is completed before going home?"

"The bridge builder terminated our contract, so we're no longer obligated to protect him. There also appear to be no remaining obstacles to the bridge's completion. Besides, we have a valuable prize to return to Konoha."

Everyone looked at the blood soaked bundle lying nearby. No one could figure out exactly why Haku was still alive, but even now his chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Kakashi walked over to the boy's body and bent down. "Sasuke, help me get him up on my back and we'll be on our way."

**Land of Fire, Konoha  
Two days after arrival:**

"I smell something... blood… _my_ blood and… camphor, mugwort, fumitory, ether… all medicines. I must be in a hospital, but where? And why?"

"I hear sounds... someone is talking. It's in a dialect, but which one? The Hidden Leaf Village? Yes, that's it, but… is that where _I'm_ from?

"I can't see... my eyes won't open. My face is covered, maybe if I move my head… PAIN! Searing, burning, throbbing… What is this blackness? Am I dying?"

**Two weeks after arrival:**

Kakashi strode into the medical wing. It was surprisingly empty, a condition likely to change dramatically when the chuunin exams started soon. He walked to the far end of the hallway and acknowledged the guard at the door with a nod. Inside, the room was dimly lit and heavy curtains had been put over all the windows.

At his own recommendation all open sources of water had been removed from the room. The boy's bloodline ability to create and manipulate ice crystals required a source of water. Not that there was much chance he would recover and mount an attack, but because it was a kekkei genkai it could conceivably manifest itself even while he was unconscious.

He spotted Rin, the medic-nin assigned to Haku, sitting at a small desk on the far side of the room. As he crossed to speak with her he glanced at the room's only bed. Haku lay as motionless as he had for the past two weeks. His head still completely bandaged and blood stains tinged even the fresh ones.

"How's he doing, Rin?" Kakashi asked.

"There's no need to whisper," Rin said turning in her chair, "Other than that one episode, there's been no sign of consciousness. He's responding well to treatment, but nothing I've tried seems able to reach him inside that coma."

Kakashi frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that."

The medic-nin smiled, "You really are worried about this boy, aren't you, Kakashi?"

"I'm the one who nearly killed him when I wasn't even trying, yes. He's a pure spirit, as true and clean as newly fallen snow. He didn't deserve something like this."

"Well," Rin said standing up and walking towards Haku's bed, "there's still hope. If he has all the chakra you say he has, we just need to wake that up. It may take some time…"

"That's just it," Kakashi said while avoiding Rin's gaze, "Haku's time is already up. There's an ANBU team on their way here right now to take him apart."

"What?" Rin cried out, "They can't do that! I haven't agreed to it and the Hokage would never approve the dissection of a shinobi that's still alive."

"Who's to say he's still alive?"

"I'm saying it. His heart's still beating. He's breathing. What more proof do you need?"

"Rin, with the right jutsu I can make a dead body stand up and walk around. Does that make it alive? By all rights this boy _should_ be dead. What if the only thing keeping him breathing is some jutsu we don't understand?"

"That doesn't make it right, Kakashi. You never change." Rin lifted Haku's warm hand from the bed and held it in her own, "He's just a child."

Suddenly Rin felt pressure on her thumb as the injured boy's hand began to squeeze it weakly. There was a muffled groan from the bed and she bent over quickly to put her ear near Haku's bandaged mouth.

"Water," he whispered hoarsely, "water, please."

She turned to Kakashi and smiled, "So tell me smart guy, have you got a jutsu to make a dead body ask for a glass of water?"

Before the startled jonin could respond, the door burst open and four masked men trooped into the room. Kakashi looked from the ANBU team to the boy on the bed who was suddenly very much alive. "This is going to get ugly," he muttered.

**Three days after awakening:**

"Hello Sakura-chan," said the guard at the door, "back for another visit?"

"Yeah," said the pink haired kunoichi, "not that he'll even know I'm here."

"You're in for a bit of a surprise. He's awake!"

"Really?" Sakura said in surprise, "Is he okay? I mean… well, would he be able to see me?"

The guard looked at the girl thoughtfully. "There are a few things you should probably know before you go in there. Maybe you better talk to the medic-nin first. I'll go get her for you."

The guard disappeared into the room and a minute later held the door open for Rin. The tall woman with honey colored hair smiled at Sakura. "You're on Hatake Kakashi's genin team, right? You were there when Haku was injured, weren't you?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm Haruno Sakura. I was on the bridge and I sort of saw it happen."

"I'm a little surprised to hear you've been coming to visit Haku. Didn't he try to kill members of your team?"

"Well, not really. He made it look like Sasuke was dead, but…"

Rin crossed her arms and regarded Sakura with uncertainty, "Why are you _really_ here, Sakura?"

"I thought… I just wanted to ask him why. Why he didn't kill Sasuke and Naruto when he had the chance?"

Rin sighed, "Then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. Haku suffered massive brain damage and even though he's been able to regenerate all of the lost tissue, there's no way for him to regain his lost memories. He doesn't remember fighting your friends. He doesn't even remember who he is."

Sakura hung her head for a moment and said, "I'd still like to see him."

"Good," Rin said smiling, "I think he'd appreciate some company. Not knowing where he is or who he is has been very stressful. There are a couple of things you need to know before I let you go in however. Even though we were able to repair all of the damage to his skull and face he's still in a great deal of pain. Try not to say anything that will upset him or cause him to make faces, even smiling hurts."

Sakura nodded, "I'll be careful."

"The second thing is a little hard to explain, how much do you know about chakra gender?"

Sakura beamed, chakra was her ace subject after all! "Everyone's chakra is composed of two forces, yin and yang, which are roughly in balance with one another. A chakra is said to have a female gender if it has more yin than yang. Boys have just the opposite, more yang than yin. Girls with a lot more yin are better suited for certain jobs, like medic-nins."

"Very good, Sakura," Rin said with a big smile. "You really do pay attention in class. When the… um, 'specialists' came and looked at Haku a few days ago they discovered that his chakra is predominantly yin. That's not a bad thing. There are plenty of shinobi with a chakra gender opposite that of their physical gender.

"However in Haku's case, because of the profound memory loss, the female chakra is the only thing he has to define himself by. He doesn't realize he's not a girl yet and we've been playing along to lessen the shock. I'll have to ask you to treat him as if he were actually a girl. Okay?"

"Sure, I can do that."

Sakura followed the pretty medic-nin into the room and prepared herself for what she was about to find there. She had seen what was left of Haku's face on the bridge that day and the long trip home could not have made rebuilding it any easier, but nothing could prepare her for what she actually saw.

Haku was sitting up in bed, his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, but his face... his face looked perfectly normal. Sakura had never actually seen the boy without an ANBU mask on, but he looked just as Naruto had described him.

He glanced up and spotted Sakura. When their eyes made contact, Sakura felt a chill run down her spine. She had never seen eyes that looked so empty before, as if they had once seen everything and now had nothing left to show for it.

"Hello," Haku said timidly, "are you another medic?"

Sakura smiled, Haku sounded more like a shy classmate than a dangerous enemy. Naruto had been right, he looked so much like a girl it was hard to imagine him as anything else. "Hello, my name's Sakura. I'm not a medic."

Haku glanced away and winced as if trying to catch a memory that was eluding him. "I'm sorry," he said at last. "Should I know you? I really can't remember much. They tell me it's because I was hit in head."

"No," Sakura said, inching closer to the bed. "We've never really met. You... uh... did meet the other members of my team just before you were injured. You look really good, better than I was expecting."

Haku blushed and put a hand to his face bashfully. "You're being nice, I must look a mess. Doctor Rin showed me a healing jutsu that fixed my face and made it easier to think about things, but for some reason they won't let me wash my face or my hair. They won't even let me look in a mirror, do I really look all right?"

"Sure," Sakura said quickly, "you look really good. I can see why Naruto thought you were a..."

Haku looked up expectantly, but Sakura never finished the sentence. "You're very pretty, Sakura. I like your hair. That's a shinobi badge you're wearing for a hair band, isn't it?"

Sakura self conscientiously touched the blue scarf holding her long pink hair away from her face. "Yeah, I just graduated this year."

"I think I was a shinobi," Haku said innocently. "I think I wasn't a very nice one though. At least that's the way they're treating me, like I'm a dangerous animal. Did I hurt you or your friends?"

"No," Sakura said glancing nervously at the curtain behind which Rin surely sat listening to their every word. "In fact you saved a member of my team and... one of your own."

"That must have been papa," Haku said quietly.

"Papa?" Sakura asked looking confused.

"Well, I can't really remember him or his name. I just know there was someone I cared for. Someone who feels kind of like a father to me. You say I saved him, does that mean he's alive? Does he know I'm here?"

"Well, no... ur... I mean… I don't really know what happened..." Sakura knew she'd messed up when she saw Haku's face contort and tears well up in his eyes. She heard a chair scrape on the floor behind the curtain just as Haku began screaming. Rin threw back the curtain and rushed to the bed. Haku was holding his face in both hands and wailing in agony.

Rin glared at Sakura, "I warned you about this. I think you better go."

"I'm sorry," Sakura was about to cry herself. It was frightening, one moment Haku was fine and the next he was shrieking in pain. She'd never heard anyone cry out in pain that way. It made her wonder what it must be like to have your face ripped off and then put back on. She didn't think it would at all that much fun. "I didn't know. I thought she knew. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Rin said in a calmer voice. She'd already pried Haku's hands away from his face and was holding her own up to it. A blue glow began to emanate from them and the boy's sobs died away. "You couldn't have known this would happen. Look, you can come back tomorrow if you like, but please go now."

"Okay. I'm really sorry." Sakura said as she turned to go.

"Sakura," Haku called out in a broken voice. A hint of the pain he was feeling could still be heard, but he was obviously trying very hard to control it. "Please come visit me again. I really enjoyed talking to you. I'd like to be your friend."

Sakura looked back and simply nodded before running from the room. When she was out in the hallway she finally let her tears come and whispered to herself, "Heaven help me, so would I."

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Offices of the Third Hokage  
Fifteen days after awakening:**

"All right," the Hokage said after clearing his throat, "that about sums up the assignments for the chuunin exam. I expect everyone to stay on his or her toes. With all these local teams participating I anticipate a larger than normal turn out and anything might happen."

"Is there any reason to expect foul play, Hokage?" Anko Mitarashi asked.

"No, Anko. There isn't, but any sufficiently large gathering of shinobi from so many different villages is reason enough for caution. You can all go now, but I'd like Ibiki, Kakashi and Rin to remain." When the room was empty except for the Hokage and the other three, he continued. "Tell me what's happening with the boy. Ibiki?"

The big interrogation specialist straightened his shoulders and came right to the point. "Our investigations continue to be hampered by the inability to properly dissect the body…" Rin shot the big man a glare that could wither stone, but he continued anyway. "However, through subsequent non-invasive examinations we've determined he was indeed kept alive by some form of jutsu. We've not yet found a shadow seal for this, so we believe it must be inside the body somewhere near the heart muscle. There appears to be enough chakra permanently centered in that area to sustain him through almost any injury short of ripping out the heart itself."

"The perfect tool…"

"What was that, Kakashi?" demanded the Hokage.

"Sorry," Kakashi said as he shook himself out of his own thoughts. "I was just thinking that if you go to all the trouble of training a kid to be the perfect shinobi. It makes sense to protect that investment by insuring his survival."

"So you believe Zabuza's responsible for this?"

"Maybe, but he told me Haku had become stronger than he was. The kid might have done it to himself thinking it was a way he could sacrifice himself and still survive to be with Zabuza."

"In either case," the Hokage said pulling at his chin, "the technique is still lost. Zabuza's dead and the boy's forgotten everything."

"Not necessarily," Rin said with a sidelong glance at Ibiki. "Assuming Haku was a living patient rather than a lab specimen, I've been working for the last couple of weeks to determine the extent of her memory loss. The fact she could speak and has an extensive vocabulary indicated she didn't lose everything. As best I can determine she seems to have only lost memories of events and people. That portion of her brain where learned knowledge is stored appears to be unaffected."

"Still referring to Haku as a girl, Rin?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes!" Rin shot back. "And I'd appreciate it if everyone else would too. Even after I explained the situation to Haku she still thinks of herself as a girl. I believe this strong cross gender association predates the injury and trying to break it now would only delay her remembering your precious preservation jutsu."

"What?" All three of the startled men shouted at the same time.

Rin smiled wickedly and crossed her arms for effect. "I believe that every jutsu Haku ever learned is still locked away in her mind. However, without memories of people or events to act as reference points she has no way to access them. Once she gains enough real world experiences her skills will come back to her. She's already performing advanced medial jutsu beyond anything I've ever showed to her."

"Then if given enough experiences," the Hokage said with growing interest, "this… this 'girl' might remember the preservation jutsu? That's worth a try, but if she didn't do it to herself she still won't know how it was done."

"Yes _she_ would," Kakashi said grinning at Rin. "Zabuza also told me Haku had the ability to describe any jutsu after seeing it performed only once. If she was awake while it was happening, then she knows exactly how it was done."

Ibiki made a grunting noise and kicked at the floor. "What sort of experiences are we talking about here?"

"Well for one thing, we can let the poor thing leave that depressing room and take a bath." Rin declared. "Don't give me that look Kakashi, she doesn't even know she has a kekkei genkai and for all we know it may be integral to this preservation jutsu you want. Then we just need to let her go out and learn how to live with people again. The more life experiences she gains, the quicker her knowledge and skills will return."

"Let a killer like that wander around Konoha alone," Ibiki grumbled. "We might as well release all the cobras from the zoo while we're at it."

"We don't have any proof that Haku ever killed anyone," Kakashi said. "On the contrary she specifically spared Sasuke's life when it would have been easier and more prudent just to eliminate him."

"I suppose I _could_ assign one of the ANBU teams to act as escort…" Ibiki said.

"Just what every young kunoichi wants," Rin laid on the sarcasm, "Four trigger happy killers following her around all day. What are they going to do, chop off her hands if she gets her nails done and they turn out too sharp?"

"This boy was the apprentice of Momochi Zabuza, the Butcher of Kirigakure. Kakashi just told you Zabuza himself thought the boy was more powerful than he was and you want to treat him as if he were a schoolgirl on a picnic. I'm just suggesting we take some necessary precautions."

The Hokage held up his hand for silence. "Calm down you two. I believe there's a way to accomplish both of your goals. Kakashi, hasn't a member of your team been visiting Haku?"

"Yeah," Kakashi scratched at the back of his head nervously. "In spite of my warnings against it, Sakura and Haku seem to have become friends."

"Then we'll use that," the Hokage said. "Rin, you can let Haku out of the hospital for short periods, but only if she is accompanied by Sakura. Kakashi, you will instruct Sakura that she is not to let Haku out of her sight. If Haku does anything strange or threatening she is to let you know about it immediately. Ibiki, for now ANBU is no longer assigned to this case. Call off your dogs and leave the kid alone for a while. We'll give this until the beginning of the chuunin exams, but if we haven't seen positive evidence that Haku's skills are returning ANBU will be allowed to use any means necessary to uncover the preservation jutsu."

"Hokage!" Rin's eyes blazed with anger.

"I'm sorry, Rin," the Hokage said calmly. "A jutsu like this could save countless lives. If there is any possibility the girl will remember it on her own, we'll give her that chance. But in the end, we must know the truth."

**Sixteen days after awakening:**

Haku ran the brush through her long black hair with genuine relish. In the last week it had become so filthy and disgusting she had considered asking Rin to cut it all off. Now she was really glad she hadn't. The bath last night was wonderful and the chance to see the rest of the hospital exciting.

When she came back to the room there was another surprise waiting for her. All the curtains had been removed from the windows and the glittering lights of Konoha were spread before her. She stared out the windows for hours, refusing to go to sleep as she imagined all the people each of those lights represented.

Dawn brought even more fascinating surprises as daylight revealed the giant faces carved into the mountainside and the streets filling with people. The only thing that could possibly tear her away from those marvelous windows was Rin telling her Sakura was coming by later to take her out for a walk.

Haku wasn't sure what had happened, but there was definitely a change in the way she was being treated. The guard was still outside her door, but the other one who usually lurked at the far end of the hallway with a sword was gone. She expected an armed escort when leaving the room last night, but Rin had simply given her directions to the bath on the second floor and let her wander off by herself. The only restriction she was given for today's outing was to not get separated from Sakura, something she wouldn't have done anyway.

The door began to open and Haku checked her excitement. Carefully she let a small smile spread across her face as her pink haired friend backed into the room with a wrapped bundle in her arms. "Hello, Sakura! Look, they uncovered the windows."

Sakura beamed as she walked across the room and set the bundle down on the bed. "So I see, but look at you. Now I know why there was a shortage of hot water all over town last night." Sakura winked and began to untie the bundle.

"I did spend a little extra time in the bath, but it was worth it. I had to wash my hair five times to get out all the dried blood and dirt."

Sakura reached out and took some of Haku's hair between her fingers. "Wow, it feels great and you don't even have split ends. I'm jealous."

Haku blushed, "I had no idea it would look this nice. I had no idea how nice the bath would be either. Did you know you're not supposed to wash your hair in the big tub?"

Sakura blinked and looked shocked, "You didn't even remember how to take a bath?"

Haku hung her head, "No, but there was a nice woman attendant named Miki who showed me what to do. I think she was a little shocked when I stepped out of the water though."

"You're going to have to be careful about that," Sakura ginned. She had accidentally walked in on Haku once while Rin was examining her, so she knew what Haku looked like naked. "You'll only pass for a girl with your clothes on. And speaking of clothes, I brought you some. My grandmother bought this for me last year, but it was too big. She thinks I'm still growing or something."

Sakura held up a green dress in the same style as the red one she always wore. Also in the bundle on the bed were black shorts and a pair of blue sandals. Haku stared at the clothes for several long seconds before turning her head away and looking out the window.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"Won't you be ashamed to be seen with me wearing that?"

"I know it's not the greatest color in the world, but I think you'll look cute in it."

"That's not what I mean, Sakura. Those are girl's clothes. I do remember there's difference."

Sakura dropped her shoulders and frowned, "Look Haku, let's be honest here. The first time I ever saw you I couldn't tell if you were a boy or a girl. My instructor just assumed you were a boy because you'd just kicked someone's ass we'd been fighting all day. The next time one of my friends met you he was certain you were a girl until you told him otherwise. You look like a girl, you think like a girl, why would I be ashamed to be seen with you dressed like a girl?"

"I don't know." Haku felt a cold spot growing in the pit of her stomach. "I guess it's because I really don't remember what people are like. I just have a vague impression they can be really mean and unfriendly."

"Then you've probably never met the people of Konoha." Sakura's smile was warm and her eyes twinkled with sincerity. "Come on, try this thing on so we can get out of here and meet some of them."

Fifteen minutes later Haku stood on the steps of the hospital building breathing in the unfamiliar air of the outside world. Gone were the familiar antiseptic smells of the hospital, to be replaced with a thousand different scents assaulting her mind at the same time. She managed to name just a few, cedar, wood smoke, manure, and frying fish before Sakura grabbed her hand and pulled her down the steps.

"Come on slowpoke."

"Wait a minute, Sakura. This isn't as easy as I thought it would be. There's just so much going on out here." A flash of yellow at her feet caught her eye and she automatically bent down to look at it.

Sakura stopped and turned around, "What is it, Haku? What's wrong?"

As Haku stared at the little flower her mind began reeling. She felt dizzy and then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. "Common name dandelion, leaves and stems are edible, the flower can be made into a preparation to ward off colds yet it is not considered a valuable medicinal plant."

She spoke the words so quickly they barely registered and yet she suddenly knew everything there was to know about this plant. She knew the bitter taste of dandelion salad and the sweet spring-like aroma of dandelion wine. Reaching out with a practiced move, she quickly and expertly detached all the leaves from the plant without disturbing the delicate flower.

She held the little bundle of leaves up for Sakura to see. "How can I do something like this without remembering ever doing it before?"

"I don't know," Sakura said with a smile, "but I think I know just where to take you today."

As they raced through the streets, Haku's legs began to feel the familiar rhythms of running. Soon she was holding back so as not to overtake Sakura, who seemed to be pushing herself quite hard. Finally they stopped and Sakura bent over, heaving from exertion.

"Here we are," Sakura panted.

Haku, who was hardly winded at all, looked around in wonder. "W-where are we?"

"This is the horticulture school's flower garden. There's also an herb garden you'd probably like."

Wherever Haku looked there were flowers. Every color of the rainbow exploded before her eyes and names and facts began to flood her mind from all sides. She struggled to lock onto just one flower, just one bush out of the dozens vying for her attention. She spied a pink blossom not far out of her reach and dropped to her knees before it. The dizziness came over her again, but this time it didn't stop and before she knew it the world went black around her.

She woke up moments later with Sakura's worried face staring down into her own. "Are you okay? Why didn't you tell me this would happen?"

Haku smiled a little too fast and was rewarded with an inferno spreading across her cheeks. She focused her chakra and fought back the pain, but continued to smile. "I thought you'd be getting tired of hearing me say I couldn't remember something."

Sakura laughed then turned serious again, "I guess I'd better get you back to the hospital, huh?"

"Oh no," Haku said quickly. "I have an idea."

She sat up and was pleased to find the pink rose bush still in front of her. She reached out and quickly picked off one of the long stemmed buds. She felt a sharp pain as her finger touched one of the thorns, but it was nothing compared to the fire that still raged under her face.

"If I hang on to this rose and concentrate on it for a while, I think I'll be okay. There's just too much going on here to take in all at once."

"Yeah, I can see that." Sakura said holding out her hand. "Let's get out of this garden and find somewhere a little less complicated."

They walked for a few blocks with Haku stopping from time to time to focus on something, nearly fainting and then snapping back with all sorts of facts filling her head. It would have been fun if it weren't for the massive headache she was getting, but every time it started to get worse she'd stare at the rose and center herself again.

They had just turned down a street bordered on both sides by tall wooden fences when Sakura stopped short. "Oh no, what are _they_ doing here. They're supposed to be on a mission today."

Haku looked across the street and saw a tall shinobi with white hair who looked familiar to her. She was certain she'd seen him hanging around the hospital on more than one occasion. He was following behind two boys, one was blond, wearing an orange jumpsuit and limping badly. The other was dark haired, wearing shorts and seemed to be trying to distance himself from the other one.

"Let's go, Haku." Sakura turned in the opposite direction and grabbed at Haku's arm, but with a move too fast for the pink haired girl to see she dodged and took a step into the street.

"Are those your teammates?" Haku asked.

"Yeah, but we don't want to run into them. Trust me on this."

"Were you told to keep me away from them?" Haku felt her lower lip beginning to tremble.

Sakura turned and her face softened, "No, Haku. I wasn't told to keep you from meeting anyone or seeing anything. It's just that Naruto can be a little hard to take even on a good day. The experience might be too much for you."

"I'd really like to meet them. They're the only people I know of who talked to me before I lost my memory. And they're your friends, so I guess I can trust them too."

"Okay," Sakura said shaking her head, "but don't say I didn't warn you."

They turned back to the street, but Kakashi had disappeared leaving Naruto limping along and Sasuke increasing his lead. Suddenly the blond boy looked up and loud voice boomed out, "Hey, Sakura!"

Sasuke turned and seeing them approach reluctantly turned and headed back their way. They all met in the middle of the street at about the same time.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto said while checking out Haku from the ground up. "Who's your cute… Holy crap!"

He took a step backward and bumped into Sasuke who poked his fist hard into Naruto's back and pushed him forward again. "Naruto, be a gentleman and wait for Sakura to introduce her new friend to us."

"Uh… uh… yeah. Sure, Sasuke," Naruto turned his head and stage whispered through his teeth. "Do you know who that is?"

"Can it, Naruto!" Sakura said in a loud voice Haku had never heard before. "Haku already knows who you guys are and she knows you know who she is. Now remember what I told you the other day and try to act like a normal human being for once."

"Um… right…" the blond boy started scratching his head and from the look on his face Haku could only assume he was trying very hard to remember whatever Sakura had told him the other day.

Haku could certainly sympathize with that, so she decided to take the lead and bowed formally. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Haku. Let's be kind to one another."

Sakura's eyes grew wide watching Haku perform such a formal greeting. "Haku, I didn't think you'd remember how to do something like that."

"Neither did I until just now." Haku giggled, but it was the truth.

Sasuke edged past the stunned Naruto and extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Sasuke. You're looking a lot better than the last time we saw you."

"I can only imagine," Haku said as she shook the boy's hand. Suddenly she felt dizzy and her vision blurred. She felt herself going into another fainting spell, but before she blacked out again it passed.

"Sharingan, a kekkei genkai which allows the possessor to memorize any technique with perfect accuracy and use it as his own. Also, with experience allows them to track fast moving objects and predict their opponent's actions…"

"What the hell…" Sasuke pulled back his hand quickly and dropped into a fighting stance.

"At its most advanced level produces a hypnotic effect that can cause its victim to reveal his moves even before he executes them. The only defense against this is low-visibility."

"Step back, Sakura!" Sasuke shouted as he drew his kunai.

"I'm right behind you, Sasuke!" Naruto said while drawing his own weapon.

Haku stared dumbfounded at the two boys and thought, "I don't remember any of this!"

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Half past noon, sixteen days after awakening:**

Sakura watched a tragedy unfolding before her eyes. Sasuke surprised her by approaching Haku in a genuinely friendly way, but before they could finish shaking hands Haku's eyes glazed over as she slipped into one of her memory seizures. It was over with very quickly, but the information she dredged up just happened to be a description of Sasuke's sharingan.

Her teammates' reactions were swift and dangerous. Sasuke drew his kunai first and Naruto followed suit. They stood ready to hack their opponent to shreds if she so much as moved a muscle. To Haku's credit she stood frozen in place, but Sakura couldn't tell if it was from fear or because sheets of ice were about to erupt from the gutters.

"Stop it right now, Sasuke!" She shouted desperately. "Haku didn't mean anything. She's not armed. Look at her Sasuke, she doesn't remember how to fight!"

Sasuke cautiously let his eyes shift upwards from their close scrutiny of Haku's hand muscles, which had not faltered from their tight grip on the rose she was carrying, to the former rogue shinobi's face. Sakura knew what he'd find there, the emptiness behind those eyes was painful to look at sometimes.

Suddenly Sasuke's kunai swung limply from his finger and he holstered it quickly. "I guess I owe you one."

Naruto, never one to be quick on the uptake shouted, "Sasuke! What are you doing?"

"Relax idiot, she's not a threat."

Sakura took a deep calming breath and blew it out. "Thank you, Sasuke. Haku, are you okay?"

Haku stood staring at Sasuke. She didn't appear to be having one of her attacks, but she was definitely trying to catch some thread of a lost memory. Sakura had seen her do this before and knew it rarely resulted in anything but disappointment.

Suddenly Haku dropped to her knees and bowed low before Sasuke. "I'm so sorry!"

"Huh," Sasuke stepped back. "What are you talking about? I'm the one who just drew a weapon on you."

Haku looked up with watery eyes, "I can't remember what I did to you, but it must have been something terrible. I know they won't let you tell me about it, but whatever it was please try and forgive me. You've probably got every right to hate me, but you're Sakura's good friend and teammate. I want to be your friend too."

"Uh, look…" Sasuke appeared more uncomfortable than Sakura had ever seen him. His head kept darting from side to side, looking up and down the street to see who might be watching. "It wasn't that bad, nothing compared to what you went through, just a little embarrassing. Stop with the bowing already, I forgive you. Now just get up, please."

Haku stood up and carefully brushed the dust from the front of her green dress. She put on a big smile, which was immediately followed by a noticeable and painful looking twitch. "Thank you. I wish I could remember more. I just know I did something, to someone with a sharingan, which I felt very guilty about. That's as good as my memory gets I'm afraid."

Sasuke dug his hands deeply into his pockets and stared at the pavement, "Yeah, well forget it. I really should be going home soon."

"Hey," Naruto interrupted loudly, "if you remember Sasuke then you gotta remember me."

Haku stared at the blond haired boy for a long time then shook her head. "I'm sorry, who are you again?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. You've got to remember me. I beat you. I broke that ice cage thing of yours. You even asked me to…"

Sakura channeled just enough chakra into the slap to send Naruto flying, but not so far that she couldn't get to him quickly and grab his ear. "Naruto, you moron! Don't you have any idea when to shut up?"

"Sakura?" Naruto screamed as she twisted his ear painfully. "What are you doing? I didn't do anything! Ow!"

Sakura began dragging the boy down the street by his ear. She intended to give him a few more examples of how stupid he was and then reiterate what she'd already told him about Haku. She couldn't do that in front of the girl of course, so she turned and shouted back to her friend, "Haku, stay here for a few minutes. I'll be right back after I teach this idiot some manners."

As she marched off down the street, her inner Sakura raging in fury, she heard Sasuke say, "I'd better make sure she doesn't kill the brat."

--

Haku was getting bored. If Sakura intended to abandon her someplace, at least she could have picked a busier street corner. She'd dutifully greeted everyone who wandered by, but so far no one had stopped to talk to her. It was also starting to get hot and she didn't do well in the heat for some reason. Doctor Ren had taken to sneaking bowls of ice to her every afternoon, which Haku used to cool herself down with when the heat became too much.

"I wish I had a bowl of ice right now!" The blond boy had mentioned something about ice. "What was his name?" He certainly seemed to think it ought to be memorable. "And what exactly is an ice cage anyway?" If she had ever owned a cage made of ice, she would certainly want to be sitting in it on a hot day like this.

She looked down the street to where Sakura and the boy had disappeared around a corner ages ago. She thought Sasuke was going to stay with her, but he had jumped over the fence saying he was going to follow them. Then the strange boy who was crouching in a nearby tree watching them leapt away leaving her all alone. The strangest thing she had seen was a box painted to look like a rock zigzagging its way down the street following after Sakura.

"Maybe I should just ask someone how to get back to the hospital?" She looked around, but there was no one in sight. "Of course I could just go looking for them..." but then she would most likely become even more lost than she already was. In the end it made more sense just to wait for Sakura, she was sure her friend wouldn't really abandon her.

She felt their presence long before the three shinobi swooped down beside her. The boy standing in front was the same one who had been hiding in the tree earlier. The large pack she'd seen him carrying was in fact a huge gourde of some kind. His companions, a tall boy wearing face paint and a blond girl with pigtails, stood to either side. All three wore shinobi protectors with matching symbols. Haku closed her eyes for a moment as a dizzy spell hit.

"Hello," she said after opening her eyes again, "you're from the Hidden Sand Village, aren't you?"

Ignoring her question, the boy with the gourde said, "You're Sasuke's girlfriend or at least you used to be, right?"

Haku hesitated for a mount as the various connotations of 'girlfriend' ran through her brain. "No," she said at last. "What makes you think that?"

"I heard him dumping you earlier."

"Oh no, that wasn't..."

"I don't care. You tell Sasuke he and I are going to fight it out and the sooner the better."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see..."

"Look kid," said the boy with what looked like a wrapped up body on his back. "Just do what Gaara tells you, okay?"

"But I can't," Haku was becoming frustrated with these people. They were a little intimidating and she fidgeted nervously with the rose in her hand. When her finger pricked one of the thorns, she snapped it off and began twiddling it between her fingertips. "You see I don't know..."

"Listen sweetie," the girl said, "just give Sasuke the message and we'll leave you alone."

"I don't think she wants to be left alone." The one they called Garra shifted the gourde on his back so that the cork fell out and his companions stepped back in reaction.

"Gaara, you can't," the girl said. "She's not wearing a protector, she's not a shinobi."

"I don't care what she is, she's pissing me off. If you live in a hidden village you should have learned long ago who makes the rules. Or maybe you're just too stupid to understand that shinobi like us get what we want or we hurt people. You don't have a choice…"

Haku's arm moved so fast the first indication Gaara had that he was being attacked was the sound of her hand slapping his neck. His eyes grew wide and the muscles keeping his jaw from drooping open began to relax. His tongue lolled around inside his mouth a few times before it too lost the ability to move and flopped out over his chin.

"Now you're going to listen to _me_. I am not Sasuke's girlfriend and I've never been his girlfriend. I can't give him a message, because I don't know where he lives. I don't come from this village so I don't know who makes the rules, but I'm pretty sure it's not you. I may have some trouble remembering things, but I'm certainly not stupid. And finally, anyone with the word 'love' tattooed on his forehead ought to have a nicer personality."

With a quick glare at Gaara's companions, Haku gathered up her remaining courage and marched off down the street in the same direction Sakura had departed. She might just get herself more lost, but it was better than staying here and dealing with vulgar scary people. If the whole world were like this, she'd just as soon spend all her time in the hospital from now on.

--

Temari watched the girl disappear around a corner, "Damn, Gaara. I've got to hand it to you. You're finally learning some restraint. Gaara?"

Kankuro stepped forward and waved a hand in front of Gaara's face then looked up at Temari, "He's out cold."

Temari stepped in front of her sibling and looked him over closely, "No he's not. He's paralyzed. That girl must have done something to him." She searched Gaara's neck and almost missed the tiny black speck imbedded about a hand width above his collarbone. She dug at it a few times, careful to avoid triggering the Sand Shield, before she finally caught it between her fingernails. She pulled it out and almost instantly Gaara came back to life.

"I'll kill that bitch! I swear I'll grind her scrawny ass to dust before I'm done! Come on, before we lose her."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Gaara," Temari said looking closely at the tiny object she just pulled from his neck.

"Why not? What's that thing?"

"It's a thorn from that rose she was holding. She just pushed it into you neck, right through your Sand Armor, so fast it didn't even trigger your Sand Shield and she managed to hit one of the hardest to find pressure points on the whole body with pinpoint accuracy. I may have been mistaken about her being a shinobi."

"Damn," Kankuro said gazing at the thorn. "There isn't even a drop of blood on it."

Gaara grabbed the tiny thorn and glared at it. He looked down the street to where the girl in the green dress had just disappeared and swore under his breath. Then turning the other way he said, "Come on, we'll never catch her now anyway. But one day I'm going to kill her, I swear I'll kill her."

On a rooftop nearby, Kakashi sat back down and took out the book he'd been reading. "Good girl, Haku. You just signed your stay of execution."

--

Rin bounded up the stairs with a huge grin on her face. Kakashi had just given her the best news she could have hoped for. On her very first day out, Haku had already proven herself. It was delightfully ironic that the thing everyone feared the most when she was brought here had now become her sole means of salvation. If Haku could regain enough of her shinobi skills to remember how the preservation jutsu worked, she wouldn't become a victim of those ANBU butchers.

And if the rest of Kakashi's plan worked out, by that time she would be an integral if not irreplaceable member of the Konohagakure shinobi force. All he needed was an excuse to get Haku assigned to his team. Then he could challenge and mold her skills in such a way as to bring her rapidly back to full potential.

Rin reached the top floor and turned down the hallway towards Haku's room. Not only had the guard been removed from the door, they'd even taken away his chair. She couldn't wait for Haku to return from her outing with Sakura, so she could tell the girl she was now free to come and go as she pleased.

Rin pushed through the door and walked into the room filled with bright afternoon sunlight to find Haku lying on the bed already dressed in her hospital robe. A neatly folded green dress and a pair of sandals sat on the chair next to the bed. "You're back earlier than expected. Did you have fun today?"

Haku rolled over and looked despondently up at the medic-nin. In her hand was a single pink rose bud. "It was okay, but I got tired and asked Sakura to bring me home."

"Well, you didn't sleep at all last night, so I guess that's to be expected." Rin sat on the edge of the bed and felt Haku's forehead then took her pulse. "Did something happen? You don't seem as excited as you were this morning."

"It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Every once in a while I'd see or do something and then get dizzy. Sometimes I'd even blackout, but when I came to I'd remember new things."

"Those are your new memories linking up with the old knowledge you never lost. The blackouts are like short naps, you'll probably remember a whole lot more after you go to sleep tonight. That's probably why you're so tired right now. You'll feel a lot better in the morning."

"I hope so. I sort of promised Sakura I'd let her take me shopping tomorrow. Just catching a glimpse of the market on the way back here nearly made me black out again."

Rin chuckled, "So tell me, what was your first impression of Konoha? Be honest."

A small delicate smile crossed Haku's face. "It was good for the most part, but confusing. I didn't meet as many people as I'd hoped and the ones I did meet seemed a little strange. But…"

The girl's face fell and she looked away. Rin was pretty sure what was wrong, but she couldn't let on that she already knew about the altercation with the Sand villagers. "What's wrong, Haku. Did something bad happen?"

"I met some people today who were very rude to me. Nothing really bad happened, but it frightened me."

"What about it frightened you?"

Haku looked up from the bed with tears in her eyes. "Me. I'm frightened by what saw myself do today and knowing exactly how to do again. I could have killed that boy instantly! What other horrible things are locked up in my head and what will I become when they're all set free?"

Rin took Haku's free hand in hers and began stroking it gently. "There's nothing to be afraid of, those are just your shinobi skills. They seem frightening now because you don't remember how hard you worked to learn them. You were once very talented and you will be again, but only if you let yourself remember them all."

"I don't think I want to remember any of them," Haku cried softly and then a painful twitch rippled across her face.

Rin pressed her thumb into the center of Haku's palm and held it there for several seconds. "I'm going to count to three. One, two, three and now I want you to go sleep and don't be afraid to dream."

Haku's eyes slid shut and her body relaxed. Rin had begun using hypnosis as a way to control the girl's painful seizures and continued with it as a means of control when they still didn't know if she would become violent. Now it was just a convenient way to get Haku to relax when she was upset about something.

Rin stood up and went to the linen closet for a blanket. There she found the only bits of Haku's original outfit that remained. She ran her fingers across the rough caved in surface of a Hidden Mist Village forehead protector that hadn't quite managed to serve its purpose. Beyond that lay a simple tan colored hair wrap with beaded ties and two silver hair tubes. She gathered these up and took a blanket from the top shelf.

After laying the hair ornaments out on top of the green dress in the chair, Rin unfolded the blanket across the foot of the bed. She pulled it up and over Haku, who reacted by curling into a fetal position underneath it. Rin reached for the rose, intending to put it in a glass of water so it wouldn't wilt overnight, but as soon as she touched it she jumped back and gasped.

Carefully she cupped her hands around the delicate flower and gently pulled it from Haku's grasp. Holding it up to the light, she examined it closely. It appeared fresh and alive, as though it had just been picked on a dewy morning. Most of the thorns had been removed and several of the leaves were crushed from where Haku had been holding it tightly all day. Otherwise it seemed completely unaffected by the summer heat. It was also frozen solid.

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Seventeen days after awakening:**

Sakura strode briskly into Haku's room at the hospital and stopped short. Her mouth dropped open and her hand involuntarily fingered the handle of her kunai. A vision from her past stood waiting for her, Haku's hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head and covered with a simple wrap while two long tresses dropped from either side of her forehead and were held at the shoulder by silver tubes. The only thing missing was the red and white hunter-nin mask.

It was what she found in place of the mask that made her relax. Haku's smile was tiny, so as not to cause her much pain, but joyous. Doctor Rin stood nearby, her own smile reflecting that of her patient.

"How does it look?" Haku asked excitedly. "Doctor Rin gave me these hair ornaments. She said I was wearing them when you brought me here."

"Um…" Sakura tried to hide the shock in her voice. "You look great. Just the way you did the first time we… um… met."

"You should have less trouble with the heat today by wearing your hair up," Rin said. "I don't want you getting over heated. If you feel yourself craving ice, stop somewhere and get something cold to drink."

"I'll be careful," Haku said contritely.

"Why don't you use the bathroom before you go," Rin suggested. When Haku left the room she approached Sakura. "Sorry for not giving you any warning about her appearance. You hid your fear well, I don't think Haku noticed. Was she really that intimidating before?"

"She used techniques Master Kakashi had never seen before and Sasuki says that if his Sharingan hadn't awoken he'd have never been able to follow her movements."

Rin nodded gravely. "What about the ice?"

"That was the strangest thing. It was a pretty warm day, but she made huge sheets of ice just grow out of the water on the bridge surface. It was pretty awesome. Then, and I'm not sure if Haku did this or not, it started snowing."

"Snow? In the Land of Waves in May?" Rin shook her head. "Sakura, I want you to make certain she doesn't suffer at all from the heat today. I'm afraid her kekkei genkai is beginning to awaken and if that happens before she remembers how to use it, all sorts of nasty things might happen."

Sakura nodded gravely, "She could turn any source of water into a weapon without realizing it."

"Exactly, and we wouldn't want that happening in a crowded marketplace, now would we? One more thing," Rin said with a grin. "Try not to get into any fights or leave her on her own again, okay?"

The young kunoichi blushed, "I'll try my best ma'am."

&

Kakashi strolled into the building where the Hokage's office was located and smiled warmly at the receptionist. She was a pretty young thing, with disarmingly big eyes and a gorgeous figure. Before he tried making a pass at her he stopped to remind himself she was also a full fledged jonin with dozens of kills to her credit. He opted to leave it at just the smile today and headed up the stairs.

When he reached the small waiting room outside the Hokage's office, he was met by another woman. This one was equally as lovely as the receptionist, but far more deadly. "Hello, Tsuki. How's the spook business?"

The woman looked exasperated. "Oh it's you, Kakashi. I knew I was feeling unlucky today. For your information it's called counter intelligence and there's nothing 'spooky' about it."

"Suit yourself. Are you waiting on the Hokage?"

"No, he's waiting on _us_."

"Us? Why in the world would the Hogage need to speak to a shinobi and a common spy?"

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that, Kakashi? Spies are shinobi too and you'll be happy to know this has nothing to do with you personally." Tsuki turned and opened the doors leading into the Hokage's office. "Well don't just stand there gawking at my butt, come on in."

Kakashi followed with a big grin on his face. He and Tsuki Hoshikawa had gone to school together. Back then she was the biggest gossip at the academy, so he guessed her becoming an undercover spy for the Hidden Leaf Village wasn't all that surprising. What was surprising were the large numbers of partners she'd gone through over the years. Those who'd managed to come back in one piece were adamant about never going on another mission with the little redhead.

"Kakashi!" The Hokage was fond of snapping him out of these little reveries with an angry growl now and then. "You know Hoshikawa here, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. We went to the academy together, but I've never had the pleasure of working with her directly."

Tsuki snorted in a most unladylike manner and crossed her arms. "Like you'd have been able to keep up with me."

The Hokage closed his eyes and ignored her. To Kakashi he asked, "I want you to tell me about your genin team. You seem quite anxious to have them participate in the chuunin exams, but do they really have any chance?"

"Yes, they have an excellent chance!" Kakashi was surprised to have the old man bring this up again. In addition to the big meeting of the jonin a few days ago, he'd also personally spoken to the Hokage about this. "Sasuke is exceptionally gifted and with his sharingan awakened he's more than capable. Naruto still has a way to go, but he excels at meeting new challenges. He surprises me every time we go out."

"What about Sakura?" The Hokage asked in serious tone.

"Sakura is… well, I'm not sure. She's smart, she knows more than the other two put together and her chakra control is the best I've ever seen, but…"

"But she's not ready for the exam, right?" The Hokage walked behind his desk and sat down. "Kakashi, I want you to pull your team out of the exams. The girl will only hold back Sasuke and Naruto. They could both use more training anyway. Besides, we have something else in mind for Sakura."

Kakashi looked at Tsuki and scowled. This had to be her doing. "You're not planning to send Sakura out with this loose cannon? That'll be ten times more dangerous than any chunnin exam!"

"Just what are you trying to say, Kakashi?" Tsuki shot back, her face suddenly as red as her hair.

"I'm saying you're too hot headed to take a genin on a mission. You care more about your objective and not enough about the other shinobi on your team. People die when their around you, Tsuki, and I don't want that happening to Sakura!"

"How dare you! I care about my team members, but we're all shinobi and we're expected to make sacrifices to get the job done. You call me a loose cannon, but you go out and pit genin against murdering rogues like Zabuza. What were you thinking?"

"I didn't know we were up against someone like Zabuza! I did everything I could to prepare those kids for the worst and they all survived. That's more than some of your partners can say."

"Enough!" The Hokage roared. "This isn't a grudge match. Just settle down the both of you. Tsuki, explain the mission profile to Kakashi."

The two jonin glared at one another for several moments and then Tsuki's shoulders slumped. A grim smile crossed her face and she shook her head. "The Board of Education recently took an inventory of their library. They discovered one of the forbidden scrolls was missing from the vault. A preliminary investigation points to a transfer student from the Hidden Grass Village who was known to have had access to the scroll. The current mission is to determine if the scroll is now in the Land of Grass and where it is being kept."

"The mission is purely one of reconnaissance," the Hokage added. "We need a young genin to infiltrate the Grass Village's shinobi academy. It requires someone with enough chakra control to maintain a disguise for several days."

"You just got through telling us how Sakura has the best chakra control you've ever seen," Tsuki said. "So logically she is the best choice for this mission. There's no combat involved, so the possibility of her being injured or killed is very low. Even if she's discovered the repercussions would be trivial."

Kakashi smiled. "Let me get this straight. You need someone young enough to pass for a student who has plenty of chakra and excellent control over it. Someone experienced at pretending to be someone they're not. Well, Sakura is not the best choice for such a mission, but I know someone else who is."

"You're not seriously thinking of Haku?"

"Why not? Rin says she needs experience in the real world. What better experience could there be than attending a shinobi school while exercising her abilities at the same time?"

"But Haku is not a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. How do we know we can trust her with a mission? We don't even know what level she is."

"She has no reason to feel affiliated with any other hidden village. Making her a shinobi is simply a matter of paperwork. Tsuki just said nothing serious would happen if she screws up the mission. And as far as her level is concerned, I'll just say I'm glad I was preoccupied and didn't have to face her myself."

"Interesting," the Hokage said, "very interesting. I'll have to take this up with the Department of Shinobi Resources, but assuming they can make allowances I see no reason not to try this out. It might not be a bad idea to have the girl out of town during the chunnin exams anyway. Everyone will be too busy to keep and eye on her."

"Excuse me," Tsuki interrupted. "But just who is this Haku you're talking about?"

Kakashi and the Hokage shared a momentary look and then the white haired jonin grinned. "Why, she's your new partner of course."

&

"There you go, one extra large strawberry snow cone." Sakura handed the cup of bright red ice to Haku who took it gratefully and began sucking on the ice crystals right away.

"Thank you! I don't know why the heat bothers me so much."

Sakura sat down across the table. She'd left Haku sitting in the shade of a cherry tree at the edge of the outdoor food court next to the market. They'd spent most of the morning window shopping before her friend began feeling the effects of the summer heat.

"Maybe you come from someplace where it doesn't get this hot, like the Land of Snow? Or maybe a mountainous part of Land of Water, I hear it snows a lot there."

Haku shook her head. "I have no clue. It's not like all those things I look at and suddenly remember what they are. Nothing ever reminds me of my past. This snow cone for instance, I just remembered how the ice gets crushed by a machine and how they pour the fruit juice over it afterwards. I can even remember how it's supposed to taste when you get to the melted part at the bottom, but I can't remember ever once eating one."

"Well, you'll just have to keep making new memories. What did you think of the market? Anything you want to go back and buy?"

"It was amazing! All those things to see, it was a bit overwhelming. I didn't see anything I really wanted. I don't remember what half of it is used for anyway." Haku laughed carefully so as not to contort her face too much.

Sakura had been scanning the food court when suddenly her gaze locked on someone just entering from the market street entrance. "That's funny," she said absentmindedly. "I could have sworn Ino was on assignment this week."

"Which one is Ino?" Haku asked following her friend's gaze.

"She's the blond girl standing next to the fat kid over there. If they're here, I wonder where Shikamaru is. Wait a minute, that's Hinata and the rest of Team Eight over there. And Team Four, what the heck are they doing here?"

"These are teams of shinobi?"

"Yeah, most of us graduated together in the spring. It's pretty unusual for all of us to be in town at the same time on a weekday."

"What about that boy staring at you over there? It looks like he's with two other people as well."

Sakura looked and saw a boy with strangely shiny black hair cut in a bowl shape looking at them from a table nearby. He was wearing a green turtleneck sweater in spite of the heat. "I don't know, they look like genin, but they're not from my class. What's with that guy's eyebrows?"

Just then Sasuke walked into the food court with Naruto. He scanned the crowd until he spotted Sakura and then dragged the blond boy away from the ramen stand towards them. When he got to the table he nodded to Haku who was trying to hide behind her snow cone.

"Sakura, they told us we might find you here. We're supposed to report to the school this afternoon. Do you have any idea what's up?"

"No, but I notice most of the other genin teams are here too."

"The town's crawling with teams from other hidden villages. Something's up. Are you two finished shopping or whatever?"

Sakura looked at Haku who shook her head. "I'm done; I've already seen more than I can process in one day. I think I can find my way back at the hospital by myself."

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked. "I thought we might actually try on some clothes this afternoon."

"Hey, is that a snow cone?" Naruto as usual was having some problems focusing on the matters at hand.

"Uh huh," Haku said nodding. She held the cup out to the blond haired boy. "Would you like some of mine?"

When Haku held the cup away from her face, Naruto got his first clear look at her with her hair up. Whatever he'd planned to say froze on his lips and his eyes glazed over into blank white circles.

"You look…. nice today," Sasuke said nervously. He'd also just noticed her resemblance to the wicked fast rogue shinobi who'd nearly killed them all in the Land of Waves.

"Thank you," Haku blushed and tried not to smile. She remembered the incident from the day before and asked Sasuke, "Do you know a boy with the word 'Love' tattooed on his forehead?"

"Yeah, we met that guy yesterday. Do you know him?"

"No, I don't think so. I met him yesterday too and for some reason he thought I was your girlfriend. I explained that wasn't possible, but I think you should watch out for him. He wants to fight you and he's tougher than he looks."

Now it was Sakura's turn to have the glazed over eyes. "He thought you were Sasuke's…"

Naruto started laughing. "Sasuke's girlfriend, that's great!" He slapped the other boy on the back really hard. "You should have told us, Sasuke!"

"Shut up, Naruto! She just said she wasn't."

"But that guy from the Sand Village thinks Haku's your girlfriend! And she's not even really a g…"

Naruto doubled over from the punch Sasuke landed to his midsection. "I said shut up!" Before he had a chance to throw a second punch he felt a hand grasp his shoulder. He whipped around and found himself face to face with Haku.

"Please don't fight each other." She pleaded with him. Her face twitched in obvious pain as she forced a big smile. "Your friend's right. I'm not what I appear to be. You have every right to be angry with me, but please don't hit your teammate again."

Sasuke was only inches from Haku's face when her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed into his arms. Surprised, it was all he could do to support her weight. It never occurred to him that it might look like they were embracing one another.

"Haku?" Sakura said with growing agitation. "Haku, what are you doing?"

"She's fainted," Sasuke shouted, "that's what she's doing! Get her off me!"

"Hey, Sasuke!" Someone called out from across the food court. "Get a room, dude!"

"She fainted?" Sakura jumped up and grabbed Haku's shoulders. Together she and Sasuke lowered the unconscious girl to the ground. "Haku? Haku? This looks like one of her memory attacks, but they usually don't last this long."

"Is she going to be alright?" Sasuke asked.

"What'd you go and hit me for?" Naruto whined angrily. "Hey, what's wrong with Haku?"

&

It was cold, blessedly cold. Haku sat on the porch with his back to the warm wall of the cabin. Inside a fire in the hearth was keeping a big pot of soup he'd just made hot. In his lap a snow white hare slept peacefully. He ran his fingers through its long thick fur and thought of the one he was waiting for, the one who meant more to Haku than life itself.

He stared out into the blue grey twilight filled with falling snow and squinted into the distance. He wanted so much to see the person he was waiting for. His heart leapt at the prospect of seeing that person again and holding them in his arms, but the harder he tried to remember who it was the more distant the memory seemed to grow.

He saw movement between the trees. At first nothing more than a darker shaded of gray against a backdrop of more gray, but soon it became darker and more distinct. It was a man, a big man, and he was approaching as though slowed by some great weight. The closer he came the slower his movements became until Haku was in a rage at the slowness of the movements.

The boy he now recognized as Sasuke moved just as slowly before him. Haku was watching him through some sort of glass wall. The wall seemed to surround him on all sides, but he couldn't see the edges for some reason. Suddenly the other boy the one in the orange jump suit came into view as well. He charged at the pane of glass and it shattered.

The big man was surrounded by dogs, all sorts of dogs, big ones, little ones, pug nosed and wolfish. They all had their fangs set deep in the big man's flesh. He was so weighted down by them he could no longer move, but Haku could. Something slipped from his fingers and the pack of dogs disappeared.

Haku leapt into the man's arms. He wanted to curl up there and never leave again, but first he had a job to do. Haku turned and faced the final challenge, the one that would secure once and for all the love of his life. A ball of blue fire engulfed him. It was hot, unbearably hot.

&

"Its just heat stroke, she'll be okay in a few minutes"

Haku opened her eyes to find a strange man leaning over her. He looked like an older version of the strange boy who'd been staring at Sakura. She tried to sit up but the man held her down. He was surprisingly strong for his slight build.

"Don't try to get up too quickly, young lady."

"What happened?" Haku asked groggily.

"You tried to eat that snow cone too quickly when you were overheated. It made you light headed and when you stood up you fainted. Luckily your friends were here to catch you."

"My… friends?"

Suddenly the face of the blond haired boy popped into her field of vision. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Naruto," Haku said without really knowing how she'd remembered his name at last.

His face was yanked away as suddenly as it had appeared and was immediately replaced by Sakura and Sasuke. "What happened?" Sakura asked. "Did you remember something big this time?"

Haku looked into Sasuke's worried face. She remembered seeing it once before, cut and bleeding and desperate. She closed her eyes. Of all the things to remember, why had she remembered only the end? "Yes, I remember how I died."

To be continued…


End file.
